Ideally, it is only meant for emergencies: For example, if you are involved in a car accident and a regular phone is unavailable, the car phone can be a real life saver.

In real life, unfortunately, many people use their car phone as a status symbol. I used to have a friend who loved to show off all of his technologygadgets. Whenever he would drive his car and have a passenger, he would call someone on his car phone as soon as he started moving the car.

I always felt uneasy about that. For one, it was rude: He invites a friend for a ride, then starts a conversation with someone else.